Pi Alpha Xi horticulture honor society will host a Plant Sciences Grad School Panel for all CALS students on Wednesday, November 8th, 5:00-6:30 p.m. in 404 Plant Science.

The program is specifically tailored to students currently applying, or considering applying to grad school for programs related to plant sciences. This panel will feature members of faculty and staff involved with graduate programs and admissions in the field as well as current graduate students studying in plant sciences.

This will be a great opportunity for anyone with questions about the application process or wondering whether graduate school would be a good fit for them.

Come join the Cornell Orchards Store, Cornell Catering, and the Cornell Hard Cider Program Work Team for a family-friendly Finger Lakes Cider Week event celebrating all things apples and cider!

Cornell is a leader in hard cider research and outreach, and even teaches an undergraduate course on hard cider production! We will have a wide selection of specialized cider apple varieties available for tasting and participants can create their own cider blends using freshly pressed apple juice.

Starting at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., the Peck Lab will lead walking tours of high-density cider apple research orchards. There will also be hard cider tastings from local producers along with delicious food pairings, and of course plenty of apples and sweet cider from Cornell’s research farms to purchase and take home.

“The students in the ESS colloquium (ESS 2000) will observe and draw the biodiversity of the garden from three perspectives: standing, kneeling and lying down,” says Johannes Lehmann, professor in the Soil and Crop Sciences Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science, who co-teaches the colloquium with Susan Riha, Charles L. Pack Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

“Then we’ll hang their works throughout the garden, together creating an ephemeral artists’ herbarium and installation of this small natural world on campus,” adds Lehmann.

The Cornell community is invited to join in the process from 1:15 to 3 p.m.

Wilson is known for her frequent collaborative partnerships with students and botanists as well as, homeless people, real-estate developers, grocers, and government officials. In her own studio, she uses the lens of ecology to capture endangered landscapes and overlooked plant species, in particular moss.

Biodiversity is not just a feature of the Amazon rainforest or other exotic locales. Hidden multitudes of species inhabit the Ithaca region, as participants in the inaugural School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) BioBlitz discovered Sept 8-9.

A dozen teams tallied 1,250 species of higher organisms and more than 23,000 microbes during the 24-hour event to document as many species as possible. Held on the grounds of the Cayuga Nature Center (CNC) and Smith Woods, the event was the first in the region. The series started in 1996 in Washington, D.C., and has since spread around the world.

The 2017 SIPS BioBlitz opened Sept. 8 with remarks by Chief Samuel George of the Cayuga Nation Bear Clan; Warren Allmon, director of the Paleontological Research Institution; and Kathryn J. Boor ’80, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

“At Cornell, it’s part of our jobs to be curious – which means I have one of the best jobs around,” Boor told participants at the launch of the event. “Like you, I’m inspired by what I can discover in the world around me, how to collect data and then share it with others.”

Boor and other speakers emphasized the importance of collaborations between universities and community members in preserving local lands and their biological diversity.

Do you have a serious interest in developing a business plan for a New York state based commercial CEA vegetable operation? This conference is for you.

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) enables year-round production of fresh vegetables through greenhouse environmental control (heating, lighting) combined with hydroponic/soilless production systems. While CEA is an increasingly popular method of meeting consumer demand for locally grown food, many factors must be considered when developing a business plan and assessing its viability. This conference is intended to provide more detailed knowledge of CEA production systems, economics, marketing, and ways to access financing and state resources. It will also help guide new or transitioning operations through the process of developing a business plan for a CEA greenhouse vegetable business.

Leading the tour at Chanticleer will be the garden’s public programs manager Erin McKeon, 2013 graduate of Cornell’s Public Garden Management Program.

From Patricia Chan & Myles Collinson, Pi Alpha Xi co-presidents:

Feel the need to get off campus? The desire to surround yourselves with plants? The urge to learn the workings of a meticulously cultivated botanical garden?

Cornell University’s chapter of Pi Alpha Xi, the national honor society for horticulture and plant sciences, has organized a weekend trip to three southeast Pennsylvania public gardens September 15-17, featuring special behind-the-scenes tours at each location.:

This trip is open to all undergraduates, grad students, staff and faculty.

For only $50/person, this is a very affordable package trip that includes bus transportation to/from Ithaca, breakfasts, guided tours, and admission to the gardens. Lunch and dinners are on-your-own, and hotel accommodations for two nights are available at a discounted rate. Important: You are responsible for booking your lodging, available for a special block rate, only if you make your hotel reservation by this Friday, 9/8.

The free event from the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) connects the public with scientists and students from local universities as they work together to count as many species as possible in a predetermined area for 24 hours. Participation for the event, which is the first of its kind in the area, is open to both students and local citizens.

Co-sponsored with the Cayuga Nature Center, the BioBlitz will include taxon-themed walks, demonstrations and educational programs for everyone, giving the public an opportunity to learn from scientists as they identify and catalog organisms. join the hunt for species, and use the iNaturalist app to upload their sightings to the species list. Admission is free to the Nature Center during the event.

“This is a great opportunity for people from all walks of life to get back to nature and learn about the amazing plants and animals in their own backyard,” says Scott LaGreca, SIPS BioBlitz coordinator and curator of the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium.

The opening ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, with remarks by Kathryn Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Christine Smart, professor of plant pathology and SIPS director; Warren Allmon, director of the Paleontological Research Institution; Elizabeth Thomas, Ulysses Town Supervisor; and Chief Samuel George, Cayuga Nation Bear Clan’s Sachem.

The BioBlitz starts at 5 p.m. on Friday as teams of scientists spread out across the Cayuga Nature Center’s grounds and nearby Smith Woods, one of the few old-growth forests left in the area, to take a census of everything from deer to microbes. Each team will have its headquarters at the Cayuga Nature Center, where members will show off their findings and answer questions from the public.

Schedule of Events

Friday, September 8

4 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies

5 p.m. – Start of BioBlitz!

5-9 p.m. – Displays open in Nature Center

5 p.m. – Interesting Fall Insects at the Nature Center

6 p.m. – Snails and Slugs of the Forest

7 p.m. – Nighttime Bat Extravaganza

8 p.m. – Spiders by Flashlight

9 p.m. – Moth Trapping and Nighttime Insects

Saturday, September 9

All Day – Taxa Tables displays and information

10 a.m. – Native and Non-Native Plants and their Histories

11 a.m. – Fungus Among Us Walk

Noon – Animal Feedings

1 p.m. – Fun with Microbiology DNA

2 p.m. – Walk with the Pollinators

3 p.m. – Mapping Vegetation Using Drones

5 p.m. – End of 24-hour BioBlitz collecting

6 p.m. – Species tally announcement

More information can be found online. For questions, contact Scott LaGreca at bioblitz@cornell.edu or 607-255-2777.

Ph.D. candidate Grant Thompson explains his research on soil bacterial communities in residential lawns during a poster session at the Fall 2017 Horticulture Graduate Field Review.

The Graduate Field of Horticulture gathered in Jordan Hall at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES), Geneva, N.Y. for the Fall 2017 Graduate Field Review. A dozen graduate students gave 2-minute “poster pitches” ahead of poster sessions where they detailed their research progress to faculty, staff and fellow students.

Topics ranged from root exudates and reviving nut trees to post-harvest fruit- and flower-quality and Reisling grape clone trials. Two students gave longer talks on their research into grape cold hardiness and apple acidity genetics.

The Horticulture Graduate Field Review is held twice a year just ahead of the start of Spring and Fall Semester classes.

Nina Bassuk, professor, Horticulture Section, and Peter Trowbridge, professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, will lead a course for landscape architects September 15, 2017, on the Cornell University campus.

The participants will learn about best plants for challenging site conditions, plant selection for specific sites, site assessment techniques, and key resources for plant selection and design considerations. They will also tour the Cornell campus to see successful plantings, examples of site remediation and incorporation of research results in the landscape.

Class size is limited to 25. Cost is $185 and participants can earn up to 4 LA CES Learning Units.